Before my internship with Protect, I had to google ‘whistleblowing’ to understand what it is, as I had rarely heard it in the news or being spoken about in daily life. After three months of working as an intern, I have learned about whistleblowing laws and legislation, such as the Public Interest Disclosure Act, and how whistleblowing affects the lives of people around the world.
Throughout this summer at Protect, working remotely from Austen, Texas, I have mainly supported the Policy and Comms team supporting Protect’s “Let’s Fix UK Whistleblowing Law Campaign” creating graphics and animations and Tweeting, as well as attending webinars, and writing reports. I have learned so much through this campaign, knowledge that is relevant to not only U.K. government and policy but also U.S. government and policy. I have also had the privilege to research prominent U.S. whistleblowers Chelsea Manning and Reality Winner as well as being able to attend webinars where U.S. government whistleblowing was the main topic of discussion. I will be able to take this experience and knowledge onto my studies and future career as well.
I also had the chance to spend time with Protect’s Business Support team and the advice line, learning and appreciating what they do and how they help the vision of protect. I was able to work with the Business Support team on various projects and learn how Protect helps train companies so that they can have good whistleblowing policies from the start.
As for the future, my classes have started back up at the University of Texas at Austin where I am starting my final year. I will graduate in May with degrees in International Relations and Global Studies and Italian with a minor in Government.
I have truly valued my time at Protect, and my only regret is not being able to meet everyone in person in London. I do hope to visit England soon and can’t wait to be able to see everyone in person. Protect does great work to help those struggling to whistleblow and supports change in policy in government so that whistleblowing can continue to be the lifeblood of democracy.